National News

WATCH: Paralyzed teen walks down aisle at sister's wedding

Sixteen months ago a car accident forever changed Mackenzie Gorden's life. Doctors told her parents their 18-year-old daughter would never walk again. But Mackenzie was determined to prove them wrong, especially since she was asked to be the maid of honor at her sister Brittany's wedding. Her story is featured in a special report for the Denver Post: "Stepping Toward Hope: My Sister's Wedding."

The Lake City, Iowa, teen worked for months at a groundbreaking paralysis-recovery training center in Colorado. Never giving up, the courageous high school senior kept working toward her goal of walking down the aisle. And on the day of her sister's wedding, Mackenzie wheeled up to the ceremony and did the impossible. With the help of her brother on one side and the best man on the other, she walked as best as she could down the aisle to join the bridesmaids at the altar.

Mackenzie's mother, Karen Gorden, said she had feared her daughter might never walk down the aisle on the day of her own wedding, but now that fear will never become a reality.

Mackenzie's remarkable story reminded us of Garrett Bazany from Grand Haven, Michigan. In May, three years after he was paralyzed from a trampoline accident, he walked across the stage to accept his high school diploma